The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-08-02
THE TALLY-sHEEr VERDICT.


regarded 1t worthy of capital punishment
THE TALLY-SHEET VERDICT.
How Long VIII the People submit?-The
Crime Must Be Punished.
Indianapolis News.
The jury which failed to agree in the trial OF
the conspiracy showed itself to be like thar
grand jury which refused consider the evil
dence for indictment in this same case The
parallel is exact The Democrats on the grand
jury refused to consider the evidence; the DEM
ocrats on this jury refused to do the same. II
this sounds like hard saying, listen TO the fol.
lowing from the Sentinel of yesterday:
THE case had noe been begun an hour" said a
juror, until understood the whole thing 1t looked
like an organized attempt to prosecute Democrats"
An hour after beginning the case. must have
been almost ii not quite, before evidence was
introduced. But, not to take 1t literally, it
means that at the very threshold of the case, be-
fore 1t was fairly entered upon. before little ii
any, evidence was heard, before the expana-
tons of the attorneys on both sides had been
given, before the judge had laid down the law
and the facts, this juror understood tbs whole
thing" to-wit: that this suit not effort of
justice to prove the truth concerning crime
charged but IAN organized attempt to persecute
not even prosecuted Democrats" If this is not
clear proof that the evidence in the case was
not weighed would be difficult to say what
constitutes proof. We submit it to all fair
minded men, Consider this confession, then
member the following. also taken from the Sen
tinel:
Willard S. Bowen of LaPorte. did most of the
talking the Democratic side. Said one of the
jurors of Mr.. Fulwider: He is good and
stanch Democrat. and I never saw as convincing a
talker on 2 jury as he proved to be. Mr. Bowen was
also well posted and he reliable. In fact all of
the Democrats stood together like stone wall.
except single instance that of Mr. John r. Hunt,
of Vermillion county, in the of Mr. Bernhamer.
1t is understood however. that if another ballot had
been ia ken Mr. Hunt and Mr. Anderson, the Green
hacker, would have voted for his acquittal
Here is testimony from the Inside" again that
all the Democrats stood together; in other words,
under
stood the whole thing before the case
had been begun an hour and that that under
standing organized attempt to perse-
cute Democrats" So we say these jurors have
thus testified personally to the public what a
traversity upon Justice they made of this trial;
how utterly non judicial, and how wholly parti-
san they were Is this what the people of this
country want? Is it what the people of the
State want2 AS We said on Saturday: Tho
changes made in the tally sheets. and
disputes it. The changes took votes from
Republican candidates and gave them to Demo-
cratic candidates. as is admitted by everybody.
The only persons who could have had motive
to make the changes must have belonged to the
party whose candidate was benefited by them.
The only persons of that party any other
party who had opportunity to make the
changes were the Coy gang"
We ask any and every body if all that is not
so? Now, rheu the men SO implicated
raigned for trial-that Is, for AN honest examiu-
alton as to whether they are guilty or innocent
and yet, by the confession of the jurors. they
did not get such examination. The Democrats
stood together ike stone wall on the OASIS OF
the juror who understood it all before the case
had been begun an hour" and this understand
ing was that it was persecution of Democrats.
Will the people submit to this sort of thinef
Has the safety of the ballot box. the declaration
of the sovereign will. the machinery Of law,
to such little account that one and
all may be ruthlessly invaded as the mutilated
tallv-sheets and the confession of these jurors
show has been done here. We believe not. We
believe there will be awakening that will
press the matter home. This crime must be
tried. The defendants in this case must either
be adjudeed guilty and be punished, or they
must be declared innocent and set free without
prejudice. No community, for its own safety,
can halt with such an impotent conclusion as has
been reached here. and that, too on the avowed
confession that this conclusion reached "be-
fore the case had been begun an hour"
A Lame and ImpOtent Conclusion.
Chicago Inter Ocean.
After the manner of most Indiana trials into
which political animus can be injected, that OF
the tally sheet forgers has come to a lame and
impotent conclusion by disagreement of the
jury To those who watchedi it from distance
sufficient for prevention of local prejudice
party bias, the result would seem to be alto
gether unwarranted by the direct and circum-
stantiaI evidence
That forgery was committed goes without the
saying; the taly-sheets were conclusive
that. The guilt of at least four of the indicted
men was directly sworn to by Perkins. who. it
may be admitted, was party to the crime. and
who had accepted the offers OF the prosecution
and turned informer. However weak of itself
the evidence of such a one may be. 1t was In this
case supported by circumstantial evidence OF
great strength. and was not directly contradctsd
by any witnesses other than the accused, whose
evidence was of course open the same sus-
picion of interest which attached to that OF the
informer The characters of the chief suspecu
were proven to be bad
Here then, WAS a self-evident crime. the
direct evidence of an accomplish, much crcum-
stantial evidence to the accused having been
at place favorable to its commission, possessed
of the tally-sheets which were made the vehicles
autn nnfsv N
forgery, and being persons of bad character.
For conviction there was direct evidence, proof
of opportunity for the doing of crime, motive fol
doing IT, character predsposing to its doing, and
circumstances showing that if the accused did
not make the forgeries one else could have
made them. Against conviction there just
the oaths of the accused. In Chicago such
trials generally terminate otherwise than in
disagreement of the jury.